Rest and Renewal
by Super-Sonic-101
Summary: Autumn has begun, which means the Resting Day Fesitval for Deku Scrubs in Termina. Iris suffers from a birth defect that sets her apart from other Deku in the Fall, which makes her feel alone during the festivities, but that doesn't stop her and Jace from having a nice afternoon. On this Day of Rest, the two just might make a decision that'd change their lives forever.


That night in Termina was a common one for most cultures, nothing special. However, in the Southern Swamp it was a very special time of year, and today was a holiday in the Deku culture. It took place at the beginning of Autumn. Being plants, the Deku Scrubs undergo slight seasonal changes. A Deku Scrub's leaves often changed in hues to show this change has taken place. The Fall was the season of rest, just like Spring was the season of renewal. Spring time caused Deku Scrubs to bloom flowers from their leaves for a week, and their bodies prepared for the warm seasons of Spring and Summer. Autumn signified the change in weather, that beautiful time before it'd become harsh and cold, and their bodies prepared to take on the upcoming Winter's cold. Strangely enough, a Deku never made these changes fully until they reached puberty. Their bodies did change for season's, but they don't have the major signs of change such as flowering or leaves changing hue until they're nearing their maturity.

Iris sighed, as she stared at herself in the scratched and old mirror. Her leaves never changed in the Fall. She believed it was a birth defect, as she's never undergone an Autumn change once in her life. This problem was bigger than it seemed, since no sign of change meant that her body wasn't preparing for Winter and that she always stayed used to hot weather. The only seasonal changes she ever had was flowering in the Spring. Winters have always been hard on her due to this. It saddened her and made her feel a little small when everyone else were showing off their Autumn changes.

She then looked at her body in the mirror to look over her somewhat dressy clothing. She ran her hands down her hips to pull the foliage and petal-made dress down till she was comfortable. She refused to wear tribal make up of any kind. She found it foolish to mask herself. She was pleased with the simple way she looked, until she saw her leaves. They were currently pulled into a ponytail, but still felt she didn't look good, so pulled the ponytail out. Her long thick leaves fell in a graceful bounce. She then sighed again with irritation in her tone.

"Well, well... Autumn sure looks attractive on _you_..." Jace charmingly commented Iris as he leaned on the door way, his spirit-lit eyes looking her up and down.  
Iris turned softly to her husband and smiled weakly. Her glowing orbs scanned over him, seeing how neat he looked. He wore a much nicer tunic, that had both it's top and bottoms. It was made of plant foliage rather than raggy animals pelts. Other than his pants under his tunic bottoms. And he never forgot his fathers old vest. His blonde leaves shone brightly, and their hues changed to where they looked more like gold whenever light hit him. She looked away and pushed her unchanged leaves away from her face. "Yeah... If I HAD Autumn on me, maybe..."  
Jace moved toward her as she fidgeted with her leaves. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her softly from the back, where they were both facing the mirror. Jace gently grabbed Iris' fidgeting hands and held them in his warm hands.

He smiled, and spoke "I don't want you to change... You're beautiful the way you are, year 'round." He pressed his snout gently to the side of her face, where he slightly used his snout to move her leaves that hung around her cheek before pressing a kiss to her cheek. She smiled and blushed. Jace then simply sat his head next to hers, with his snout nuzzling her leaves. Her leaves smelt sweet and fragrant, as if it was still Spring or Summer. He loved that about her. "I love how you make me feel like it's still Spring or Summer. It makes every morning glorious, and makes a cold Winter morning easier to wake to... I never wanna let you go because how good you smell."

Iris rolled her eyes and smiled "Now you're just being corny..."  
"Eh, you love it..." Jace winked in a flirty sweet manner.  
Iris paused, before leaning her head against his "Yeah... I think it's charming."  
"I'm not even gonna ask if you're ready to leave, because I see you already are."  
Iris looked at her leaves, but before she spoke, Jace cut in.  
"Leaves and all..."  
She chuckled lightly and looked to him. "Alright, then..."

Not long after, Jace and Iris left their underground home. Skits sat perched in a tree and watched the pair leave toward the village as he smiled. He looked to his mate, Kura; who was sitting in a nest, so he really wasn't too intent on leaving her alone. Skits usually went with Jace and Iris to the Resting Day celebration, but he'd spend today... Well, resting.

The village was bustling as families talked, laughed, sang, and danced to the celebration. Some Deku were playing Deku Pipes. The village was decorated in Fall colors and lanterns. And what wasn't Deku-made decor, was the forests own palette of leaves raining down softly. The sun was leaving as night was coming. The sun's light falling behind the trees looked like blots of gold dripping between the trees falling leaves. Iris glanced first thing to a falling leaf that came down in front of her. It was the only green leaf she saw. She didn't say anything, but felt maybe it was a sign that all because she can't change, didn't mean it was a bad thing.

"Hey, mutant..."  
Iris' irritation began to flare again, as she heard a voice she hated... Jace groaned.  
A Deku walked by, as she gave an acid-glare to Iris. Iris returned the same glare. "...Gewl."  
"Iris."  
Jace remained silent. He wasn't too keen on Gewl ruining this night. She picked on Iris every year about her so called, differences.  
"I wonder..." Gewl began. "You're not from Termina, so you're of a different race of Deku... Are all your people back home as defective as you?"  
Iris was quick to nearly jump at Gewl, but Jace put his arm around Iris to calm her, which went unseen by Gewl.  
"How sad..." Gewl snobbishly smirked. She liked getting under Iris' skin and being that one itch Iris couldn't scratch. "You do know that a Deku having seasonal changes is part of what helps you survive? And it's also what makes someone, like me and so many others, so attractive..."

Jace chuckled, feeling the urge to throw her insult back in her face "Is that why you have a date?" Jace paused and looked around sarcastically, but answered before Gewl could say anything "Aw... I'm sorry, I forgot... None of the men in this village can stand you..."

"Why you-!?" Gewl huffed. "I'll have you know, I DO have a date!"  
"Uh-huh, yeah, sure. Quite a lie there, little-miss-rich-britches." Jace crossed his arms.

Gewl took a deep breath, and walked away.  
Jace looked to his wife. "Can't even get half way through the battles she starts. Pathetic. Here you and I are married, and she still acts like a jealous teenager."  
Iris giggled at Jace... "You didn't have to do that..."  
"Heheh, I know... But I can't stand her, either..."

As time went on, they never saw any of Gewl again. Jace arranged a place to sit and visit at and talk, as they drank some juice from a fruit found native to the swamp. The fruit was made up of a hard shell, but a soft juicy-pouched inside. It normally only grew in Spring and Autumn. It was served as one of the many drinks of the festival, and was served straight from the shell as a cup. Iris sipped the rich juice in small amounts.  
"Can you believe how many years we've been together?" Jace began as he leaned on the tree-stump table.  
His wife gave him a loving look, and answered "It _has_ been a long time since we met, huh?" She sighed "I feel I've grown up a lot since then..."  
"We both have." Jace added in response.  
Iris looked into her cup and rotated the cup in her hand and watched the fruit juice twist around in the cup, as she dove into thought. Jace watched her, knowing her look of thought well. "Whatchu thinking about?"  
Iris' bright orbs turned to her loved one, before beginning "... I was thinking... About all I went through before coming to Termina, before I met you."  
"Oh?" Jace laid his head in his hands, his elbows on the table.  
"It was horrible, all those battles and grief. I always ran from my past and looked for reasons to still continue my old ways... All those chances I had to make amends for the things I'd done, instead I just went on repeating my wrongs..."  
"Well, Iris... There weren't exactly many people on your side in Hyrule... You're better off without all that. Just don't reflect on it all..."  
Iris smiled "Why forget? Why not reflect?"  
Jace looked confused.  
"What started as pain, lead to the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Falling in love with you."  
"..." Jace paused, stopping his oncoming reply.

Iris continued "If I didn't fight to survive, if I hadn't run into problems, if I had stayed holed away at my home the rest of my life... I would've never found the courage and strength to take on the Dragalfos after getting kidnapped. I would've never been kidnapped to begin with, and I wouldn't have ever stepped foot and gotten lost in Termina." She reached across the table to take one of Jace's hands "I was unknowingly lost when I was in Hyrule... But that was worth it, because what I gained from it was strength and knowledge. Then when I came here, I guess I had to restart and find out I was lost to begin with. But I had to be found before I realized I was lost..." She paused, then smiled. "And what helped reveal my strength was that I was found by someone who cared, by someone I cared for. All the things that made me strong was buried within me and hidden behind the walls I hid behind and was building up over time. After I made myself strong enough, you caused all that strength to burst out of me when you tore down those walls and you unlocked a side of me that died when I was very little, the side who wasn't afraid of anything. The side of me that made me... Well, me. I was already strong from experience I didn't know I had, then you made me even stronger. I was no longer a face behind a mask pretending to be something I wasn't. I was more."  
Jace smiled softly at her. "And what a beautiful face your were hiding..."  
Iris chuckled "... I'm glad I got lost."  
His affection pulsed his heart to beat faster. His hand gently slid from Iris' to put his hand to the side of her face and run his hand along her leaves and cheek "I'm glad I'm the one who found you..."  
The naturally Autumn leaved girl laid her hand over his hand on her face, and nuzzled his hand softly with her cheek and snout. "You know I love you."  
Jace chuckled "And you know I love you..."

Their conversation stopped, as they simply enjoyed the silence together. Iris looked around, as Jace simply stared at her in awe. He soon sipped some fruit juice from his cup, but his head was in the clouds, and the juice sort of spilt awkwardly on his snout, and he coughed a few times. Iris jumped, and laughed.

"Sweetheart... You okay?" Iris asked, as she giggled.  
Jace used a cloth, and wiped the juice off him before it trickled to his clothing "Y-yeah... Heheh..." He felt embarrassed.  
When Jace sat the cloth down, he looked at Iris and made a cute smile. Iris laughed lightly. Not at his smile, but the little droplets of fruit juice still dripping off the bottom of his snout. She grabbed the cloth again, and to Jace's surprise, she wiped it off...  
"You missed a drip..."  
"Heheh..." Jace sighed. "Uh, thank you."  
Iris nodded "Of course. And now I can do this-" She kissed him.  
He smiled sweetly.

The blonde boy looked in the direction that a group of villagers began playing a new song on their forest instruments. There weren't many Deku villagers out there dancing. Jace took the opportunity to look to Iris and ask "You know... It's so beautiful tonight, the weather is nice, and the music is perfect... You wanna dance?"  
The naturally Autumn-leaved girl smiled, and was thrilled he'd asked "Of course."

They stood, and began toward the area. It was around the large tree that stood in the center of the village. Jace softly slid his arm around Iris' waist, as the other arm brushed down her arm till Iris' hand lay softly in Jace's own. Iris wrapped her free arm around his shoulder softly, and rested her hand behind his neck. Her hand had occasionally brushed his neck, which sent shivers down his back. They swayed side to side, as they simply stared at eachother.  
"... You're so beautiful tonight." Jace muttered.  
Iris' face flushed "You're quite handsome yourself."  
Jace pulled Iris close to him, and Iris leaned against him. They danced like this through the whole song, and continued on into the next song. Iris soon jumped, when she felt something grab the skirt of her dress. She pulled away from Jace slightly, and he shrugged.  
"Momma...?"  
They looked down, to see a small teary-eyed child Deku. He rubbed his eyes, and seemed upset when he realized he had the wrong couple. He looked around, and Jace and Iris let go of one another, and Iris immediately looked to give the saddened child attention. "I'm sorry sweetie, but I think you're mistaken..."  
"I can't find my momma..." He huffed lowly, and rubbed his eyes and began sobbing again.  
Jace didn't really know what to say. Iris looked distraught, and reached down to pick up the boy. He seemed to be a little toddler still. "Oh, sweetie, it's okay... I'll help you find her..."  
Jace asked "Well, uh... What does she look like...?"  
The boy looked at Jace and answered "She... She... She wear a purple dess..."  
"...Dess?" Jace said.  
"Dress." Iris corrected. "Did you mean dress?"  
The boy nodded. "Like yours."

That helped a little, despite how little detail it was, since most everyone else were wearing Autumn colors. That would explain the confusion the boy had with Iris being his mother, since she was also wearing a mostly purple dress. Iris cradled him close to calm him down from his crying. The boy held onto Iris, as she dried a tear. "Shh, It's okay... Do you see her anywhere around here...?" Iris asked in a very motherly way.

The boy looked around, before shaking his head no. Iris looked to Jace, and motioned him to follow. They walked around a bit, asking around and looking. By now, the boy calmed down and was walking with them. He was really small. He reached up to hold Iris' hand as they continued looking on in the night. Jace somehow felt... Comforted, by Iris' motherly side. It was a side even he didn't see often. A rare beautiful side of her. He smiled at her joyously when she joked and played with the child during the search. The boy didn't seem in any way scared or worried anymore. She had the little boy to the point of laughing and jumping. It was apparent, Jace loved this side of her. It made him smile to hear a child's laugh, and to hear Iris' softest nature in her voice. During this whole thing, he spent his time quietly helping, and secretly thinking...

"Lyn?" a females voice called.  
The boy twitched a leaf, and looked in the direction. He saw a dressed up Deku in purple coming to him.  
"Momma!" He ran to her, and grabbed her dress into a hug.  
"Oh, hon... Where did you run off too!? You had me worried..." She rubbed his head. "..."  
The boy buried his head in the softness of her dresses petals.  
The mother Deku looked to the young married couple and smiled thankfully. "Did you two find him?"  
"Well, he found us." Iris smiled.  
"Oh, he wasn't any trouble, was he?" The mother asked.  
Jace shook his head no. "No, he was great."  
"Thank you so much for keeping him for me till now... And as for you, Lyn, how many times have I told you don't run off...? I don't want to lose you in this crowded place..."  
"Yes, momma..."  
She sighed, before looking to Jace and Iris again "Thank you..."  
Jace and Iris nodded, before the mother grabbed the child gently, and began her separate way from Jace and Iris.

Iris sighed "... Well, that's done..."  
Jace seemed frozen in thought for a moment, before responding. "Oh-uh... Well... Should we head home? It's pretty late..."  
Iris nodded "Yeah... I'm sorry to end things abruptly."  
"It's fine..." Jace wrapped an arm around Iris. "I'm tired, too."

Iris leaned in his arm the whole way home... The walk felt long, quiet, and relaxing. Iris had a feeling Jace was in thought, though, because on days like this, he usually wasn't quiet at the end of the day.

They got home. Jace instantly dropped on the bed and closed his eyes. Iris moved on to change her clothes, and changed into her nightgown and got ready for bed. When Iris walked back to the room, Jace had now been sitting up at the edge of his side of the bed. He'd changed into some sleep pants, then repeated his silly tired drop on the bed.  
"Tonight was amazing, Jace." Iris spoke softly as she laid down.  
"Wasn't it...?" Jace agreed. "..." He lay next to Iris silently as she reached over to switch off a lantern, but Jace's sudden "Iris...?" made her pause, and the light remained on. She looked to him, noticing a tone of question in his voice. "Yes?"  
"I was wondering..." He paused, before turning to her. "Well... We've been married for a while now... A good four years."  
"Go on." She smiled.  
"Something about tonight just felt different. And for a few weeks, this certain little thought has been arising in my head." He seemed nervous. "... You were so sweet when you were with that little boy tonight, watching over him and caring for him. You were just glowing. I mean-, you were glowing all night, but this... This was something else."  
Iris chuckled "What're you getting at?"

"Iris... Could we...? Well..." He gulped, and tried again. "Could we... Have... a-..."  
Her leaves jumped slightly, and her eyes went wide "..."

Silence fell. Jace remained paused, and Iris awaited him to finish his sentence. She had a feeling she knew what he was going to ask, but she had to hear him to believe it.  
Jace scratched his head, he suddenly felt really hot from nervousness... He stopped. "Never mind..." He smiled lightly, feeling a little bad for leaving her hanging, but he wasn't sure how to ask what he was aiming to ask, more so out of fear.  
Iris herself looked really disappointed. She sighed, and looked down. Jace laid down, and turned over the opposite way without another word.  
Jace felt a shift in the bed, which was Iris leaning to turn off the lantern. As the light clicked off, Jace felt more movement on the bed. He looked a little surprised, when Iris' soft voice spoke a random "Yes." in the silence.  
"_Yes_, what?" Jace asked.  
"To what you were wanting to ask... If you think we're prepared..."  
"..." Jace instantly knew she understood. "... Well then..." He smiled, and turned to her "We can discuss it first thing tomorrow...? That's a big decision to make."  
Iris sighed happily "... Of course."

* * *

Wow, it has been a long time since I've updated, I'm so sorry. Shadows over Termina is still in progress, but for now, I've been writing little "What-If" one shots, starting with this one. The next few will sequel this particular story, "Rest and Renewal".


End file.
